KARACHI, Dec 24: Patients of epilepsy face dual hardship; not only they suffer from the disease but are also exposed to the myths and misconceptions attached to it.

This was observed by a group of doctors speaking on the subject of epilepsy at a public awareness programme held at the Aga Khan University auditorium on Thursday.

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder that stays for long but in 70 per cent cases there is a chance of complete recovery, which can easily be managed with the help of right medication and doctor’s advice, according to them.

Explaining the disorder and its prevalence, the speakers said that epilepsy was characterised by a series of seizures which occurred because of the abnormal release of cortical neurons.

It was generally considered that epilepsy affected one per cent or more of the population of the country, they said.

The disease was more likely to occur in young children or people above 65 years of age. However, it could occur at anytime, they said.

In 50 per cent cases, the cause of the disorder was unknown, they said, adding that women especially during pregnancy were more vulnerable to having epilepsy.

Discussing the causes of childhood epilepsy, Dr Khalid Ahmed, a practitioner at the AKUH, said that the reasons could be tumours, trauma, birth injury, premature birth, infection or genetic disorders.

Giving some tips on how to manage epileptic fits, he said that although the child may look as if he was in pain, he actually felt nothing during the seizure or if he stopped breathing for a few moments or showed some paleness that should be taken as a naturally occurring part of the seizure, caused by a temporary reduction of oxygen in the blood.

“Remove if there are any sharp objects there; loosen tight clothing; turn the child on one side in case he/she vomits during the seizure; don’t put anything in the mouth; avoid giving medications during this period and do not hold the child down or restrain. Young children should be carefully supervised while they are in the bathtub,” he said.

About the treatment, Dr Fowzia Siddiqui, consultant neurologist and epileptologist at the AKUH, said that immediate medical intervention was required as simple fits could take a complex form.

“At the moment, there are 20 types of drugs available in the market for treatment of epilepsy. Patients must follow a doctor’s advice and demonstrate complete compliance,” she said, adding that a diet rich in protein but low in carbohydrates, such as fish and olive oil, were found to be good for the patients.

Underlining the significance of the public awareness, doctors said that a lack of right information about the disease made patients suffer physically, socially and psychologically.

“These problems compound if the patient happens to be a woman. There is a dire need for making people know that epileptic women can function normally, provided they undergo right treatment at the right time,” she said.

Epilepsy drugs, it was mentioned, had a number of side effects which could be managed with the help of doctors’ advice. Patients are required to take medicines for life in cases where damage has occurred to the brain.

Source: Dawn

Shainool Jiwa is the Head of the Department of Community Relations at The Institute of Ismaili Studies. Prior to this, she was the Coordinator of the Qur’anic Studies Unit at The IIS from 2001 to 2004. Dr Jiwa is a specialist in Fatimid history having completed her Master’s degree from McGill University and her doctorate from the University of Edinburgh.

Shainool has been involved with the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) since 1998 and has been their Chief Examiner for Islamic history since 2001. Prior to joining the Institute, Dr Jiwa worked as a counsellor and manager for Saheliya, a mental health project for Edinburgh’s ethnic minority women. She was appointed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1998 as a part-time Commissioner for the Mental Welfare Commission in Scotland, leading to a listing in Who’s Who in Scotland, where she has been noted since its 2000 publication.

She is at present working on annotated translations of al-Maqrizi’s and Imad al-Din Idris’ writings on the Fatimid Imam-caliph al-Mu’izz li-din Allah.

Source: IIS

The golden ratio describes a rectangle with a length roughly one and a half times its width. Also known as the golden section, golden mean and divine proportion, among other names, it has intrigued mathematicians and artists alike for centuries. The Egyptians supposedly used it to guide the construction the Pyramids, the architecture of ancient Athens is thought to have been based on it, and many artists have fashioned their works around it. This includes Leonardo da Vinci, who used it in the Mona Lisa and the Vitruvian Man. Now a Duke University scientist believes he has figured out the secret behind the golden ratio’s popularity – and it’s all down to evolution.

Adrian Bejan, professor of mechanical engineering at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering says the reason the golden ratio is thought to be the most aesthetically pleasing geometric proportion is because the eye is able to scan an image the fastest when it is shaped as a golden-ratio rectangle.

“When you look at what so many people have been drawing and building, you see these proportions everywhere,” Bejan said. “It is well known that the eyes take in information more efficiently when they scan side-to-side, as opposed to up and down.”

In 1996 Bejan developed his Constructal Law, which basically says that every finite-size (flow) system is destined to remain imperfect and the best that can be done is to optimally distribute the imperfections of the system. It is this optimal distribution of imperfection that generates the geometry or shape of the system. The theory says that flowing systems – from airways in the lungs to the formation of river deltas – evolve in time so that they flow more easily. Bejan believes that this same theory can be applied to the natural design that connects vision and cognition and thus explains the popularity of the golden ratio.

Bejan argues that the world – whether it is a human looking at a painting or a gazelle on the open plain scanning the horizon – is basically oriented on the horizontal. For the gazelle, danger primarily comes from the sides or from behind, not from above or below, so their scope of vision evolved to go side-to-side. As vision developed, he argues, the animals got “smarter” by seeing better and moving faster and more safely.

“As animals developed organs for vision, they minimized the danger from ahead and the sides,” Bejan said. “This has made the overall flow of animals on earth safer and more efficient. The flow of animal mass develops for itself flow channels that are efficient and conducive to survival – straighter, with fewer obstacles and predators.”

For Bejan, vision and cognition evolved together and are one and the same design as locomotion. The increased efficiency of information flowing from the world through the eyes to the brain corresponds with the transmission of this information through the branching architecture of nerves and the brain.

“Cognition is the name of the constructal evolution of the brain’s architecture, every minute and every moment,” Bejan said. “This is the phenomenon of thinking, knowing, and then thinking again more efficiently. Getting smarter is the constructal law in action.”

In numerous papers and books over past decade, Bejan has demonstrated that the constructal law predicts a wide range of flow system designs seen in nature, from biology and geophysics to social dynamics and technology evolution

Source: GizMag

Dell has announced that its popular netbook, the Mini 10, has been given a fresh new look and some performance enhancement options. Most of the features outlined when we first covered the release of the Dell Mini 10 earlier this year will remain, but now some of the promised optional features have been officially announced. Highlights include improved battery life, a smudge resistant palm rest, internal TV tuner, increased disk space and the choice to go HD.

Dell is offering a choice of standard 1024×600 resolution display or 1366×768 High Definition on the 10.1 inch screen. Location-aware GPS and HDTV tuner will also be featured, as will optional Bluetooth and Mobile Broadband and a choice of 160 or 250GB HDD. Sensibly skipping Vista altogether, the new Mini 10 will now run on either XP or Windows 7 Starter Edition or Ubuntu.

The Atom Z530 CPU has been replaced by a new Atom N450 running at 1.66GHz and there’ll be a choice of 3-cell or 6-cell integrated battery with up to 9.5 hours of battery life. The built-in speakers will offer SRS surround sound and the HD option will include Broadcom’s Crystal HD media accelerator.

Unfortunately there’s still no mention of SSD storage options or the external optical media player promised earlier, but personalization via the Dell Design Studio will offer hundreds of color possibilities and customized artwork.

Dell’s Brian Pitstick said: “With an even better look and great battery life, we think Mini 10 is the perfect companion PC for anyone who wants to be entertained and connected wherever they go.”

The company advises that the new Mini 10’s are scheduled for availability sometime in January 2010 and prices will start at USD$299.

Source: gizMag

An estimated 300 to 350 million people worldwide are carriers of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) – a major hepatitis virus. In Pakistan, four to five million people are suspected HBV carriers. The virus can cause a number of liver diseases, including chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) and liver cancer. To raise public awareness, Aga Khan University (AKU), in collaboration with the Pakistan Society for the Study of Liver Diseases (PSSLD) organised a programme on hepatitis viruses.

Close to two million people worldwide die each year from HBV and according to the World Health Organization, the virus is 50 to 100 times more infectious than HIV/AIDS. HBV is endemic in parts of Asia, with more children being affected as the virus can be passed from an infected mother to her baby at birth. Dr Khalid Mumtaz, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), said that the high number of HBV carriers in Pakistan places an enormous burden on patients, their families as well as on the government and its resources. Large amounts of money is spent on treatment but given the limited options available, prevention is better than cure. The best way to prevent hepatitis B is through vaccination, and Dr Mumtaz recommended that infants be vaccinated immediately after birth. Providing an update on vaccinations, Dr Wasim Jafri, Consultant Gastroenterologist, AKUH and President, PSSLD, advised that three doses of the HBV vaccine are essential for full protection. Contrary to earlier advice, if a dose is missed the vaccination schedule can be continued without repeating the initial doses.

Another hepatitis virus, hepatitis C, is usually spread through blood from an infected person. Dr Muhammad Salih, Consultant Gastroenterologist, AKUH, said that there is a rising incidence of hepatitis C in Pakistan due to poor awareness, lack of basic health care and below-par blood screening facilities. The multiple use of disposable needles and syringes, substandard transfusion services and poor dental and surgical health care are all issues that need to be highlighted though wider public awareness.

If detected in time, there is an 80 to 90 per cent of curing hepatitis, according to Dr Saeed Hamid, Consultant Gastroenterologist, AKUH and Vice President, PSSLD. He pointed out however, that treatment is expensive. He also said that the disease cannot be cured if liver cirrhosis occurs, so timely diagnosis is essential.

The best measures against hepatitis E, yet another hepatitis virus, are to avoid dirty tap water and to follow good hygiene and sanitation practices, said Dr Rustam Khan, Consultant Gastroenterologist, AKUH. Hepatitis E is primarily spread through water contaminated by sewage. Dr Hasnain Shah, Consultant Gastroenterologist, AKUH said that this infection can be severe and may prove fatal in pregnant women, and advised them to be careful about drinking clean water and eating only well-cooked food during pregnancy.

Source: AKU

Dr. Zahra N. Jamal is an Assistant Professor and Postdoctoral Fellow at James Madison College, Michigan State University. She was previously on the faculty of Social Anthropology at Harvard and MIT, and was a research consultant for Harvard’s Islam in the West Program. She has also lectured at Wells, Emory, and Bridgewater State.

Since 1999, Dr. Jamal has conducted fieldwork in the United States, Canada, Pakistan, India, Russia, and Tajikistan and she aims to build on these endeavors especially among Muslims from South and Central Asia, including those living in diaspora. She has published in the Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East Journal; E-volunteerism; The Pluralism Project; The Encyclopedia of Islam in America; and other venues. Dr. Jamal is currently working on a book manuscript on the cultural phenomenon of voluntarism as a religious and civic practice among Shia Ismaili Muslims, followers of the Aga Khan, in the United States and South Asia.

Read the complete article from Source

KARACHI: Excited audience filled the Aga Khan University Auditorium to watch Thespianz Theatre’s “Ooh My Proposals!”, adopted from Anton Chekhov’s one-act farce “A Marriage Proposal”.

Chaudhry Sahab and his daughter Nadia Chaudhry make up the central characters of the play, which opens with Chaudhry being visited by one of his dear neighbours, Jamil, who asks for Nadia’s hand in marriage.

The play progresses amusingly as on the one hand, Nadia and Jamil show interest in getting married, but on the other hand, neither of them is ready to let go of their ego. The audience laughed their heads off at the exchange of dialogues between Nadia and Jamil.

Things take unexpected turns when these decades old neighbours fall out over petty issues and start accusing each other. The thrill reached its peak when Chaudhry decided to marry his daughter to the one who spoke excellent English and the quest for such a man lead to humorous situations.

Set in a typical modern-day set-up, the play was adorned with modern jingles and songs. The play’s story and the performance of the young actors kept the audience engrossed in the play and guffawing hysterically until it ended on a high note. Fahad Salim, Mahreen Hashmi and Faizan Ahmad played the main characters of Chaudhry Sahab, Nadia Chaudhry and Jameel, while Hamid Malik and Alamgir Khan played Sajan Bachal and Malik Nisar.

Thespianz Theatre is a non-profit theatre, music and dance organisation and a member cultural organisation of the United Nation’s International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People. Faisal Malik, the Artistic Director of Thespianz Theatre and an actor, said, “We are trying to promote art in Pakistan and spread awareness through
stage drama.”

Source: Daily Times

As a result of the visit, four children of Rehri Goth, aged between four and 10 years, were rushed to the Civil Hospital Karachi, where doctors would evaluate them clinically for treatment.

The head of the paediatric ward-II in the CHK, Prof Iqbal Memon, told Dawn that one of the children was admitted to the intensive-care unit while others were admitted for evaluation and treatment for severe weaknesses, including nutritional weaknesses, anaemia and slow growth.

There had been reports about Rehri Goth, a neglected population of about 30,000 people in Ibrahim Hyderi, that it was haunted by some mysterious diseases.

Dr Bhutta of the Aga Khan University said that such diseases were also common in other villages, which were facing pathetic health and education infrastructure, across the province and the country. This could be attributed largely to inter-family marriages and there is a need to educate parents on the subject, he added.

Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed and his team of doctors visited the locality to know whether it was an outbreak of some disease or something else that made the area children sick.

The minister and his team met and interviewed several persons, who had gathered along with their sick children at a house in Khalifa Para, Rerhi Goth.

Later, he told newsmen that there was nothing mysterious behind the children’s ailment.

He said the children were the victim of genetic disorder, rickets, muscular dystrophy, thalassaemia and other diseases due to ignorance of their parents and the overall environmental and unhygienic conditions.

He said he had interviewed parents and saw the children along with a team of senior doctors, who were of the view that the disorders could have been averted provided the families had the opportunities for any improved education, health and financial resources.

‘However, it is never too late and the government will help these families of fishermen,’ he added.

The health minister said that a camp would be set up again at Rehri Goth on Thursday to ascertain the exact number of children affected by genetic disorders or inherited diseases.

Some independent social and health workers told Dawn that though the disease problems in children existed for last many years, it could be highlighted only in recent months.

‘We need free ambulance service and free physiotherapy for our affected children,’ said some parents. ‘The government should ensure the establishment of fully-fledged health-care centres with doctors and equipped with machines and medicines in our vicinity and other coastal areas as well,’ they added.

Health Secretary Syed Hashim Raza Zaidi, Dr Iqbal Memon, Dr Zulfiqar Bhutta, Dr Abdul Majid, Dr A. D. Sajnani, Dr Saeed Qureshi, Prof Juned Ashraf accompanied the health minister.

The medical superintendent of the CHK, Dr Qureshi, said that a team of doctors had already visited the area and asked the NGOs working in the area to ask the families concerned to bring their children to the CHK for clinical investigations, but no positive development could be noticed.

Dr Iqbal Memon said the affected children were suffering from mental retardation, nutritional weakness, muscular dystrophy, vitamin D resisting rickets, genetic brain dystrophy and infections. ‘I am afraid that a couple of children also suffer from bone dysphasia,’ he said.

Meanwhile, the health minister said in a press release that the treatment and physiotherapy would be provided to all the sick children of Rehri Goth.

Source: Dawn

“The telescope has made us humble, but it has also made us wonderful,”
says Dr Salman Hameed, Assistant Professor of Integrated Science and Humanities, Schools of Natural Science and Cognitive Sciences, Hampshire College, USA.

Who would have known that the discovery of the telescope could have such profound implications for human beings? Lecturing on how 400 years of telescopes have changed the way we look at ourselves, Dr Hameed took an audience at Aga Khan University, Karachi, on a journey to the planets, stars and galaxies. On the one hand, he forced the audience to realise the minuteness of human existence, but on the other, he helped them appreciate the expanse of the human mind and imagination.

Read the complete article from Source

With less than two months until the Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Ismaili Muslim community had its first taste of Olympic fever in Ontario.

Thursday afternoon, the Olympic torch made its way through the Don Mills neighbourhood of Toronto, carried by President Mohamed Manji of the Ismaili Council for Canada. The Don Mills community gathered outside the Westin Prince as President Manji, donning the iconic torchbearer’s uniform and a proud Canadian smile, ran past flashing cameras through a cheering crowd.

Read and view the complete article/video from Source

As part of its ongoing collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan, Aga Khan University Examination Board facilitated “Master Trainers’ Workshops on Assessment and Testing for the I m plementation of Semester System in Higher Education Institutions of Pakistan ” throughout the month of November 2009.

Held in Quetta and Peshawar , these workshops were attended by Academics from various universities and diverse faculties. In the introductory session participants were keen on emphasizing the need for a curriculum which is less prescriptive in its detail but with an increased focus on the depth of understanding rather than the breadth of content. Similarly they were of the view that assessment should be designed in such a way to enable faculty members and students to analyze student learning and identify their strengths and weaknesses, thereby encouraging effective planning for their future management of student progress.

AKU-EB’s Assessment Experts (see HEC List of Resource Persons ), along with Mr. Muhammad Junaid, Assistant Direct o r Learning and Innovation HEC, provided insight on the importance of designing appropriate assessment tools through interactive hands-on sessions on constructing quality Multiple Choice, Constructed Response and Essay type questions.

Various other forms of assessment such as objective type tests, case studies and portfolios were also presented and discussed with the provision of supplementary reading material to highlight the wide range of possibilities available to measure the skills required of university graduates.

Chief Guests and Speakers at the workshops included Ms Shama Parveen Magsi, Minister for Information & Technology-Balochistan; Mr . Fida Hussein and Mr. Anwarullah, Regional Directors, HEC; Mr. Marawat, Vice Chancellor, University of Peshawar ; and Mr. Nasir Jamal Khatak, Head, Institute of Special Training, Peshawar .

These sessions provide a valuable platform to AKU-EB Assessment specialists to understand and share ideas on not only improving assessment at the tertiary level but also to look at ways to enable its students to make a successful transition to post-compulsory education and training.

Source: AKU

AKU-ISMC is pleased to announce that it will be conducting a cluster launch for its publications at the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby, Canada during the first week of January 2010.

This will be the first of a programme of ongoing cluster events to be held across several locations to launch the institute’s 3 new series of academic publications . Four volumes from these series were published this past October, entitled: Islam: Between Message and History, Development Models in Muslim Contexts, The Challenge of Pluralism, and Encyclopaedias about Muslim Civilisations.

Sikeena Karmali Ahmed, Manager, Publications & Editing at the ISMC will deliver a brief presentation about the Institute’s publications programme, its 3 academic series and the newly published volumes. There will be abundant opportunity for both questions and discussion; and the books will be available for sale.

Source: AKU

By Rahim Kanani Research Associate, Hauser Center for Nonprofits, Harvard University

“I believe the message of Islam is the dignity with which we must treat women in society…and I think it is correct that education dignifies women,” His Highness Karim Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the world’s Shia Ismaili Muslims, explained to a BBC reporter at the turn of the century. Like his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah, who was once President of the League of Nations, the Aga Khan has been an ardent supporter of educating women in the developing world for decades. Recently celebrating his 73rd birthday, the 49th hereditary Imam and direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad is still tireless in his effort, pragmatic in his approach, and strategic in his vision. As a religious leader, his moral obligation, rooted in the principles of Islam, holds him to both interpret the faith and improve the quality of life within the communities and societies in which his followers live.

Read the complete article from Source

Paris, 17 December 2009 — Mawlana Hazar Imam received the Prix de l’Entrepreneur philanthropique de l’année 2009 (2009 Philanthropic Entrepreneur of the Year Award) presented to him by Le Nouvel Economiste, at a ceremony held at the Cour des Comptes in Paris.

In receiving the award, Mawlana Hazar Imam — who was accompanied at the award ceremony by Prince Amyn, Princess Zahra and Prince Hussain — explained the work of the Aga Khan Development Network and the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development in particular. Other award recipients included Dalil Boubakeur, Rector of the Muslim Institute at the Grand Mosque of Paris, who received the Régulateur de l’année award, and de Nicolas Travenost, Chairman of the Board of the French Television network M6, who received Manager de l’année.

Read the complete article from Source

A network of cameras deployed around the Arctic to understand the trigger mechanism for the magnetospheric substorms responsible for the beautiful light display called the aurora borealis – also known as the Northern Lights – has discovered that sometimes the vast curtains of aurora borealis collide, producing a stunning outburst of light.

The reason no one on Earth has ever noticed these collisions before is that they occur on such a vast scale it takes a network of sensitive cameras spread across thousands of miles to get the whole picture. Luckily NASA and the Canadian Space Agency had created just such a network of cameras for the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) mission.

The THEMIS mission was designed to solve the mystery of where and when substorms begin. It consists of a fleet of five identical satellites, strategically placed in key positions in the magnetosphere, in order to isolate the point of substorm origin. While the spacecraft sampled charged particles and electromagnetic fields from above, 20 all-sky imagers (ASIs) were deployed across the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic to photograph auroras from below. Capturing the action from both sides would allow the researchers to put together a coherent, large-scale movie that would reveal the substorms’ cause and effect.

When UCLA researcher Toshi Nishimura assembled continent-wide movies from the individual ASI cameras the team was stunned.

“Our jaws dropped when we saw the movies for the first time,” said space scientist Larry Lyons of UCLA, a member of the team that made the discovery. “These outbursts are telling us something very fundamental about the nature of auroras.” Lyons recalls, “Over the next several days, we surveyed more events. Our excitement mounted as we became convinced that the collisions were happening over and over.”

The researchers believe the explosions of light are a sign of something dramatic happening in Earth’s “plasma tail” – a tail millions of kilometers long that points away from the sun made up of charged particles captured mainly from the solar wind that is held together by the Earth’s magnetic field. Because the same magnetic field that holds the plasma tail together also connects it to the Earth’s polar regions, watching the Northern Lights can reveal much about what is happening in the plasma tail.

By putting together data from ground-based cameras, ground-based radar, and the THEMIS spacecraft, the team says they now have a nearly complete picture of what causes explosive auroral substorms.

The explosions of light were found to occur when a broad curtain of almost immobile auroras collides with a smaller knot of fast-moving auroras that rush in from the north. Lyons believes the smaller, fast-moving knot is associated with a stream of relatively lightweight plasma jetting through the tail that gets started in the outer regions of the plasma tail and moves rapidly inward toward Earth. The fast knot of auroras moves in synch with this stream.

Meanwhile, the broad curtain of auroras is connected to the stationary inner boundary of the plasma tail and fueled by plasma instabilities there. When the lightweight stream reaches the inner boundary of the plasma tail, there is an eruption of plasma waves and instabilities, which is mirrored by a collision of auroras over the poles.

Readings from the radars located in Poker Flat, Alaska, and Sondrestrom, Greenland combined with data from the THEMIS spacecraft suggest that this theory is correct. The radars have detected echoes of material rushing through Earth’s upper atmosphere just before the auroras collide, while the THEMIS spacecraft have flown through the plasma tail and confirm the existence of lightweight flows rushing toward Earth.

Source: GIzmag

‘Word of God, Art of Man: The Qur’an and its Creative Expressions’

An International Colloquium organised by
The Institute of Ismaili Studies

Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York, have identified three key regulators required for the formation and development of biofilms. The discovery could lead to new ways of treating chronic infections.

Biofilms communities of bacteria in self-produced slime may be found almost anywhere that solids and liquids meet, whether in nature, in hospitals or in industrial settings. Biofilms are implicated in more than 80 percent of chronic inflammatory and infectious diseases caused by bacteria, including ear infections, gastrointestinal ulcers, urinary tract infections and pulmonary infections in cystic fibrosis patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Biofilms are difficult to eradicate with conventional antimicrobial treatments since they can be nearly 1,500-fold more resistant to antibiotics than planktonic, free-floating cells. Biofilms also pose a persistent problem in many industrial processes, including drinking water distribution networks and manufacturing.

Karin Sauer, associate professor of biology at Binghamton University, and graduate student Olga Petrova published their findings of key regulatory events required for the formation and development of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in PLoS Pathogens, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published online by the Public Library of Science.

“We have found a pathway of how the formation of biofilms is controlled,” Sauer said. “If we can figure out how to make use of this newly discovered genetic program, we can interfere with the formation of biofilms and either prevent or treat biofilm infections more successfully.”

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic pathogenic bacterium, is considered one of the primary causes of death in patients with cystic fibrosis, a common and life-threatening hereditary disease.

Petrova documented a previously unknown genetic program composed of several regulators by looking for changes in phosphorylation patterns in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These regulators cannot only be used to stop the development of biofilms at various stages in their growth but also to revert established biofilms to an earlier developmental stage.

“The problem you have when you have a chronic infection is that your immune system is trying to clear the infection but is unable to,” Sauer said. “And the longer the chronic infection goes on, the more damage there will be to tissue at the site of the infection. That’s because the immune response often involves the release of toxic compounds that have no effect on biofilms but can damage the surrounding tissues.”

Sauer’s research is driven by several key questions, she said: “Can we outsmart the biofilms? Can we interfere with biofilm antibiotic resistance? Can we figure out how to prevent biofilms from forming and becoming resistant to antibiotics?”

Some recent findings seem to offer a resounding yes to these questions. In addition to regulators required for biofilm formation, Sauer and her team recently identified a regulator that is only expressed in biofilms and which seems to be responsible for regulating antibiotic resistance.

“We can modulate the resistance of biofilms now by over-expressing or inactivating this particular regulator,” she said. “We hope to use these discoveries to treat infections by interfering with the way biofilms are growing and by reverting biofilms back to a state where they’re more easily treatable.”

Sauer’s research is supported by the National Institutes of Health, which has awarded her more than $3 million, and the Army Research Office. Her two major NIH-funded projects, which began this fall, look at different aspects of biofilms. One focuses on antibiotic resistance and the mechanism behind it; the other centers on dispersion, the process by which a biofilm breaks down into individual bacterial cells.

“Dispersed cells or planktonic cells are way easier to treat,” Sauer said. “We want to understand how bacteria decide when to leave the biofilm. We can use that as a way to treat chronic infections.”

Source: AKU

The Ismoili Center of Dushanbe is one of several like it around the world. The spiritual leader of the Ismoilis is the Agha Khan, who lives in Switzerland and went to Harvard. He has a development network that does lots of good work around the globe in health, microfinance and other sectors.

It is the Speech made by H.H Prince Karim Aga Khan on the occasion of the award of new economy in philanthropic entrepreneur of the year 2009 (Court of Auditors, palace Cambon).

The Original Speech is in French which is available at www.akdn.org but The Ismaili News translate it to English and it is available in Pdf formate to download.

To download please the below Acrobat link:

Note: This speech is also available for future download in Education>Speech Section Page. To Navigate this section follow the Link: http://ahmadladhani.wordpress.com/education/speech-section/

Karimabad is the capital of Hunza in Gilgit-Baltistan (efforts by: khalilshah’s photostream)

Karimabad (Urdu: كريم آباد) is the capital of Hunza in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Karimabad is also known as Baltit. It is named after Prince Karim Aga Khan, the spiritual head of Shia Ismaili Nizari community. It is one of the most beautiful places in Pakistan and it swarms with tourists from all around the world during summers. It provides spectacular views of many beautiful mountains like Rakaposhi. The Guardian ranked it as the 4th Best Tourist Site in Pakistan.

Read the complete article in detail with alot of pictures and information from Source

World Diabetes Day is observed every year on 14 November to raise awareness of diabetes. This year’s theme focuses on diabetes education and prevention.

Type 2 diabetes is at least five times more common in South Asians than in the wider population. While there is currently no cure for it, people with diabetes can still live a full life by carefully managing their condition.

If you are affected by diabetes, it’s important to avoid swings in your blood glucose (sugar), so it doesn’t go too high or too low. What you eat and how often you eat has a direct impact on your blood glucose.

Also, people with diabetes are more prone to developing heart disease, but that doesn’t mean you need to switch to eating boiled curries and Western foods. If you look after your diet and lifestyle habits, then you can significantly reduce your risks.

Read the complete article from Source

In a Europe that is more and more racist and xenophobic, it is urgent to ask some important questions

“The fear of the unknown” is the basis for “demonizing the other”. The fear of difference disappears as we invest in education for a pluralistic society. Pluralism should not be just tolerated, but rather appreciated as human richness. Hugo Franco’s article in this weekend paper mentions that the process of demonizing the other starts at very early ages. Furthermore, that children fight for the cause of religion, being the Muslim the enemy of Christians and of people in general.

I worry about this Europe that is becoming increasingly racist and xenophobic and which, resists in its ignorance towards the other. Portugal is unfortunately, becoming the same. Read the comments in my blog and you will see I am not exaggerating.

On a recent occasion, while discussing similar issues with my children, I recalled the Holocaust, and referred them to the book about “The boy in the stripped pyjamas”. I told them of how close in time we were of the dreadful events. My daughter, who’s 12, found the story a very sad one, and not appropriate for the time of the day, or the age of her younger brother, who’s 6. She was concerned about him having bad dreams. It was late in the afternoon, I know, and perhaps she was right. But then, if you miss the time, the opportunity to say things which are important, or if they become trivial among children’s games, maybe, one misses out the opportunity to teach, to remind them of the things we should avoid happening again. I have to confess tough that I got tired that day, for having to answer to many urgent but pertinent questions my son was eager to learn. His was the concern about human cruelty, and if there is punishment for those who do wrong; or even if paradise and hell exist…

The faith I try to teach is of humanism and of humanitarian conduct. The religious books they have, produced at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, in London, teach them about unity in a cosmopolitan coexistence.

I wish my kids to grow in a secular world where having faith or not, would not be a problem. I do my best to educate them at the highest standards, and with the best instruments of learning, with only one condition: that they may use this knowledge and education to serve those in need with generosity and humility when it is in their time and capacity.

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A Kyrgyz boy at a remote shepherds’ camp in the Pamir Mountains - By ANDY ISAACSON

Article By: ANDY ISAACSON, a writer and photographer, last appeared in the Travel section with a cover story about a train trip across the United States.

BY 9 in the morning, the bazaar on a rocky island in the Panj River was a frenetic scene of haggling and theatrics. Afghan traders in long tunics and vests hawked teas, toiletries and rubber slippers. Turbaned fortune tellers bent over ornate Persian texts, predicting futures for the price of a dollar. Tajik women bargained over resplendent bolts of fabric. All were mingling this bright Saturday at a weekly market held throughout the year and, in one form or another, for thousands of years here in the Wakhan Valley, which divides Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

“Mousetraps, mousetraps, mousetraps, oooowww!” crooned a white-bearded Afghan in the Iranian language spoken by locals from both sides of the border.

“They don’t buy!” complained a high-heeled shoe salesman from Kabul to me, in English.

“They always start the price too high,” a Tajik woman in a blue patterned dress and headscarf whispered as she stood before bright red carpets, appearing seductive against a monochrome mountain backdrop.

As the sun rose higher, I joined the crowds — young Tajik men in sporty shirts and jeans, uniformed border guards, families — seeking shade under rainbow umbrellas to eat rice palov, served from large cauldrons. Across the market grounds, I could see three lipsticked Korean women in straw hats dispensing balloon animals to a captivated group of men and boys.

East meeting West, North meeting South: since time immemorial, the Wakhan Valley, in the Pamir Mountains, has existed at the intersection of trails trodden by nomads, peddlers, pilgrims and, at times, the soldiers and emissaries of great powers. When I’d thought about traveling to see this rugged branch of the ancient Silk Road, it had seemed like an adventure to the far-flung periphery of the world. Now, as I looked around the market, taking the long view of history, it felt more like the center.

During the last century, this long-strategic nexus of Asia, earlier crossed by Scythians, Persians, Greeks, Kushans, Hephtalites, Gokturks, Huns, Arabs and Mongol hordes, became a cul-de-sac at the command of the Russians. In 1929 Stalin’s mapmakers created the Soviet Socialist Republic of Tajikistan, a territory about the same size as New York State, 93 percent mountainous, given shape in the artificial (though politically expedient) manner in which all the Central Asian republics were drawn. A Soviet vision of a model Oriental capital was built around the market village of Dushanbe — pleasant and leafy, if dull, with a wide central avenue, pastel-colored buildings, the standard apartment blocks and some grand monuments meant to be honored from afar. (Make the innocent mistake of approaching one, as I did, and you give an underpaid policeman an excuse to seek a bribe to overlook the offense.)

The Soviets brought universal education and health care, but banned the Persian alphabet, erasing Tajiks’ literary history, and outlawed the practice of Islam. At independence in 1991, Moscow left behind an impoverished and fractured country that soon plunged into a bloody civil war. Tajikistan emerged in 1997 corrupt but safe, ailing but reasonably stable. Before long, foreign tourists began to trickle in.

After the three legs of my flight from New York, armed with a visa and special permit to visit the Pamir region, I arrived in Dushanbe during a stifling week last July. The Russians gave the city a rail link west to Uzbekistan, and they paved a road east, toward Kyrgyzstan, that is known today as the Pamir Highway and increasingly draws foreign mountain bikers and motorcyclists.

“Highway” is a generous classification for it. It took me 20 hours to travel the dusty 325-mile stretch from Dushanbe to the provincial center of Khorog in a shared taxi, flat-tire breaks included. The road climbs over craggy, treeless mountains and falls into tidy villages with apricot trees. It is interrupted by several checkpoints, including one in a valley through which heroin and opium are trafficked — and to which, news reports say, militants have begun returning — north from Afghanistan.

At this checkpoint, a burly man wearing fatigues and a Harley-Davidson hat introduced himself as Muhammad Ali, asked for my bag, and called for the dog. Out came a small, floppy-eared lapdog that agents practically had to drag over to sniff my backpack. “He must be starving,” Muhammad Ali joked. “Just open the bag.” I was sent on my way, wondering if those were my tax dollars at work. Last year the United States spent $1.7 million to counter narcotics in Tajikistan.

KHOROG, a relaxed town of 28,000 in the heart of the western Pamirs, sits across the Panj River from Afghanistan. Its isolation largely spared it from the civil war of the 1990s, but a humanitarian crisis crippled the area after Soviet handouts came to an end. A savior came in the form of a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad himself, the Aga Khan, a Swiss-born businessman who owns racehorses and a yacht club on Sardinia and is the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslim sect to which most Pamiri people have belonged for a thousand years. The community-supported charitable organization over which he presides, the Aga Khan Development Network, resuscitated Khorog, which now has two universities, new construction and a young, optimistic population.Winters can be long and raw, but in summer the balmy air, rustling fruit trees and pedestrian bridges spanning a jade river make Khorog a nice base for exploring the Pamirs. Through an agency, I had arranged to meet a driver and translator there to guide me for a week, first south to the Wakhan Valley and then through it to Murghab, a town in the eastern Pamirs. We would sleep at a network of homestays.

The next morning we set out in a former Russian Army jeep, leaving the Pamir Highway to head south on a paved road along the Panj River, which defines much of Tajikistan’s 830-mile border with Afghanistan. Brown, gravelly slopes rise steeply from the river toward snow-capped peaks beyond view. The rustic adobe homes and donkey trails that I could see on the opposite, Afghan bank seemed suspended in a different time.

The Pamir region was renowned in antiquity for its rubies (technically, spinel) and lapis lazuli. The most famous mine, Kuh-i-Lal — though closed to the public — came into view above the road. It was the source, I later learned, of the 170-carat Black Prince’s Ruby now in the Imperial State Crown of Britain.

At a turn, the white crowns of the Hindu Kush appeared, and we entered the 85-mile-long Wakhan Valley, a fertile quilt of wheat fields along the Panj River, “situated among the snowy mountains,” as the seventh-century Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang described it.

I arrived at the Saturday bazaar, with its mousetraps and fortune-telling, by 9 a.m. and stayed until the island began to empty, in early afternoon. I talked with a blue-eyed Afghan policeman sporting Bushnell binoculars and a Leatherman toolkit and later passed a Tajik boy wearing a cap that read “Berkeley, Califopnia.” He reacted indifferently after I explained that I actually came from there. I realized that such sights are probably no more remarkable today than, say, a Chinese visitor here in the sixth century encountering Italians in silk shirts, or a Sogdian seen with the latest gadgets from the army of Alexander the Great, who crossed the Panj River in 329 B.C. At this ancient intersection, surreal juxtapositions of globalization date back for millenniums.

In the town of Ishkashim, adjacent to the market, we visited the crumbling remains of a sixth-century caravansary — an ancient motel for Silk Road travelers. Then we drove on eastward in the Wakhan Valley, passing roadside shelters decorated in pebbled mosaics conveying messages of Soviet propaganda, until we reached the remnants of a sprawling stone fortress occupying a prominent rock above the Panj. A plaque in Tajik and English explained that this was the King’s Castle, constructed in the third century B.C. by the Siah-Posh, a tribe of black-robed fire-worshipers (probably Zoroastrian), to defend the Wakhan from intruders.

I followed the small footpaths meandering among the ruins and thought of Samarkand, the fabled Silk Road oasis in Uzbekistan whose restoration has stripped much of its character, and Kashgar, China, overrun by modern Han society. The contrasting authenticity — and fragility — around me here was reflected on a plaque: “Your responsible treatment of the sites during your visiting them is appreciated as your contribution to the preservation of historical monuments.”

I spent two days exploring the detritus of history littered across the Wakhan Valley: rocks with Arabic inscriptions, petroglyphs, imposing fortresses, stones that were once arranged to determine the spring solstice and hot springs rumored to boost female fertility (I was the only man visiting these).

Small shrines to Ismaili holy men line the roadside. Each has its own legend, and is ornamented with special stones and curled ibex and sheep horns, symbols of purity under Aryan and Zoroastrian religious traditions, which predate Islam in the region.

Men, women and children strolled up and down the road between their villages and wheat fields. I offered lifts to old ladies in colorful embroidered skullcaps who showed gratitude by touching my chin and kissing their hands.

In a village called Yamg, we turned in where a sign announced a museum, and a teenager named Nasim opened the building with a key. The museum is in the home of his distant ancestor Muboraki Wakhani, Nasim explained, a little-known mystic poet, musician, astronomer and prolific Ismaili scholar of the late 19th century. Inside, artifacts from the ages were displayed, none behind glass: a tattered gold-and-blue imam’s robe, purportedly from the 12th century; 15th-century Chinese copper kettles; clay jugs from the storied Uzbek city of Bukhara; pipes, knives and yak horn cups; Stone Age beads; wooden stringed instruments carved into crude human figures.

Source: NewYork Times (Page 1&2)

In Africa a million people, mostly pregnant women and young children, die every year due to malaria despite the fact that the disease is mostly curable. The problem lies in that life saving drugs are not available when and where it is needed most. “SMS for Life” is a new Short Messaging Service (SMS) based malaria medicine stocking system developed by IBM, Novartis, Vodafone and Roll Back Malaria partnership that aims to solve this problem. It uses a combination of existing mobile phones, existing SMS service and combined it with intuitive websites to track and manage the supply of drugs to ensure stocks do not run out.

The concept was developed by pharmaceutical company Novartis and a team of international students taking part in IBM’s internship programme, Extreme Blue. IBM is managing the project,and Vodafone is assisting with the SMS system.

A trial taking place in 135 villages throughout Tanzania sees staff at each of the rural health facilities receive automated SMS messages, which prompt them to check the remaining stock of anti-malarial drugs each week.

Using toll-free numbers, staff reply with an SMS to a central database system hosted in the United Kingdom, providing details of stock levels, and deliveries can be made before supplies run out at local health centers. This system was pilot tested in 135 villages covering over a million populations.

During the first few weeks of the pilot, the number of health facilities with stock-outs in one district alone, was reduced by over 75%. “The SMS for Life program has already had a positive effect in Tanzania,” says Senior Health Officer with Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Tanzania, Winfred Mwafongo. “I’ve seen district medical officers ordering urgent stock replacements for various health facilities. During a visit to 19 rural health facilities in one district alone, I saw huge improvements in their inventory management systems. I’m very impressed with the results so far and look forward to following the rest of the pilot through to completion.”

The early success of the SMS for Life pilot project has the Tanzanian authorities interested in implementing the solution across the rest of the country. Tanzania has around 5000 clinics, hospitals and dispensaries, but at any one time, as many as half could potentially be out of stock of anti-malarial drugs.

“Collaboration is critical to tackle health problems of the developing world, and we are proud to be part of the SMS for Life partnership, a project that will reduce stock-outs, and ensure that mothers and their young children in Africa have access to life-saving anti-malarial medicines,” says Silvio Gabriel, Executive Vice President and Head of the Malaria Initiatives at Novartis.

Designed as a public and private partnership leveraging the skills and resources of several companies, SMS for Life could have far-reaching implications for existing health systems worldwide. Several other African states are already keen to introduce the project.

Source: GizMag

According to a study from Tanzania, “This study explored and described the experiences of informal female caregivers providing home-based care to people living with HIV (PLWH) in the Dar es Salaam region, Tanzania. The research design was qualitative, descriptive, and exploratory, and was based on the interpretive paradigm.”

“participants provided care at home for family members who were living with HIV at World Health Organization-defined HIV clinical stages III or IV Semistructured interviews were conducted with eight participants. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Themes that emerged were the costs of caring, HI-V-related stigma and discrimination, stress and burnout, care burden, and the challenges and support for caregivers. Caregivers of PLWH fulfill an important component of care in developing countries,” wrote E. Pallangyo and colleagues, Aga Khan University (see also HIV/AIDS).

Source: APRIA

GILGIT, December 16: Globalisation is impacting the lives of the mountain communities living in Gilgit-Baltistan which needs concrete responses. This was said by speakers during a seminar on organisational change management in Gilgit. The seminar was organised by Aga Khan Rural Support Programme with the collaboration of InWEnt-Capacity Building International, Germany. The main objective of the event was to orientate young officers from government and civil society organisations in order to act as a change agent in their organisation for impact, efficiency and effectiveness.

The speakers stressed the need to develop the capacities of the newly formed Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly and other departments in order to materialise the Gilgit-Baltistan Self Governance and Empowerment package 2009. They said joint efforts are needed from the civil society and government departments in order

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Karachi—Aga Khan University Hospital plans to organize a course on “Conceptual Basis of Urology,” here on Dec 29.

The course is specifically designed for family physicians, urology residents and consultants, said the organizers adding that it is also suitable for medical students and all those who are interested in principles of Urology.

Highlighting the relevance of the course, they referred to the fact that Non Muscle Invasive (previously called superficial bladder) cancer is the commonest urological malignancy.

There has also been a significant increase in the incidence of NMI bladder cancer in the recent years globally and particularly in Pakistan. It has been linked to a number of risk factors, including cigarette smoking and exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Currently AUA and EAU Guideline reviews a number of current treatments, including transurethral resection of bladder tumors (TURBT) and the use of chemotherapeutic agents (such as mitomycin C) and immunotherapeutic agents (such as bacillus Calmette-Guerin) in conjunction with TURBT.

Risk stratification using EORTC risk assessment calculator is the current gold standard, they said mentioning that real life cases will be presented for interactive discussion.

According to the organizers, registration is free but pre-registration is mandatory. Certificates will also be given to the participants.—APP

Source: Pak Observer

Dr Nader El-Bizri presented a paper titled: ‘Renewing the Impetus of Philosophical Thinking in Islam?’, at the international conference, Islamic Philosophy and the Challenges of the Present-Day World. The conference was held in Tehran and Hamedan, Iran, between 10^th and 13^th November 2009.Dr. El-Bizri also gave three interviews in English and Arabic, on ‘Philosophy, Science and Islam’ to the Iranian media and press, including Radio Tehran.The conference was organised by the Iranian Institute of Philosophy, the Academy of Science, the Ministry of Science, Research & Technology, in association with UNESCO (Tehran Office and Paris Headquarters), and Bu Ali Sina University in Hamedan.

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